It is well-known that many knee pads in the current art are uncomfortable. In particular, many knee pads are not designed for users, such as carpet layers or floor installers that spend a great deal of their work day on their knees while leaning forward in order to perform work. Existing knee pads often include padding for the knee area. Unfortunately, even with the padding, there is a great deal of stress on the knees due to the constant weight of the user's body being largely directed on the knee area for a long period of time. In addition, because many existing knee pads are not designed for these work related tasks, the knee pads are constructed such that users that kneel for long periods of time while leaning forward, often find that their knees slip forward and outside of the knee pad. This requires these users to re-secure the knee pads to the knee area.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,438,754, issued Aug. 27, 2002 to Kevin Patrick Canney (herinafter “the Canney reference”) discloses a knee pad protector that attempts to take all of the weight bearing pressure off the knee and displace it across the lower leg so that the full weight of the user is not on the knee. The Canney reference describes a foam body with a channel running longitudinally through the center that conforms to the shape of the lower leg. The foam body supports the lower leg but stops before the knee. The foam body is attached to a rigid bottom means and both are secured to the user's leg with straps. Unfortunately, the knee pad of the Canney reference has drawbacks. In particular, workers who spend a great deal of time on their knees are usually leaning forward at an angle while on their knees. This angular position directs the weight of the user forward such that the user's leg would be pulled out of the knee pad protector disclosed in the Canney reference. The straps would have to be extremely tight, likely to the point of cutting off blood circulation in order to remain secured to the user's leg while the weight of the user is being directed forward. Also, when using the knee pad protector described in the Canney reference the forward leaning position of the user would likely throw the user off balance and result in the user toppling forward. The rigid bottom means would have to be a substantial length to sufficiently balance the weight of an adult. Further, FIG. 1 of the Canney reference is not drawn to scale and is somewhat deceiving. In reality, an adult in the position depicted in FIG. 1 of the Canney reference would create a space between the ground surface and the user's ankle that is approximately 6 inches. Therefore, the foam body would have to be very thick in order to provide sufficient cushion for the user's lower leg, adding to the manufacturing costs of the design.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,427,239, issued Aug. 6, 2002 to Michael Worden (hereinafter “the Worden reference”) discloses a knee pad including a lower leg support adapted to closely engage a lower leg of a user and a knee cover that conforms to the shape of a knee, but is physically separate from the knee so as to prevent the patella from pushing against the femur. The Worden reference states that when a user kneels the user's weight is supported more by the lower leg support than the knee cover. Unfortunately, the knee pad of the Worden reference has drawbacks. In particular, as can be seen in FIG. 7 of the Worden reference, a user in a forward leaning, kneeling position would tend to slip forward outside of the knee pad with his/her knees hitting the ground surface. In addition, the knee pad disclosed in the Worden reference is designed such that the user's foot must be in an upright extended position, as can be seen in FIG. 7 of the Worden reference. Accordingly, the knee pad disclosed in the Worden reference would not function as intended with the user's foot in a horizontal resting position. Further, because the Worden knee pad functions as a cantilever, the strap 12 would be required to be uncomfortably tight around the user's ankle.
Therefore, a need exists to overcome the problems with the prior art as discussed above.